New clinic ‘under the hammer’
A new clinic to free up an over-run emergency department was so busy over the holidays the region’s primary health boss had to help out by ‘‘putting on a sling or two’’.
Marlborough Primary Health Organisation chief executive Beth Tester said she spent several days mucking in at the urgent care centre between Christmas and New Year, as staff were ‘‘really under the hammer’’.
Tester, who came from a nursing background, said she enjoyed helping out at the new clinic.
‘‘It was very, very busy, but that just shows that there is a demand for the service,’’ Tester said.
‘‘So I just rolled up my sleeves and got stuck in. And I think a lot of the PHO staff have gone in to help out over the break as well.’’
The clinic was opened after years of telling people to stop using the Wairau Hospital emergency department, in Blenheim, for flu, sprains and broken digits, a campaign that even saw billboards at the door urging patients to reconsider.
It was mainly for people who were not enrolled with a general practice, and visitors to the region such as vineyard workers on the RSE scheme.
Staff at the urgent care centre treated about 310 patients in the first week it was open, but that number increased to about 400 the week before Christmas, and 426 people were seen the week after, Tester said.
She did not have figures for the first week of January but said she believed it would be even higher.
‘‘We were mainly seeing sprains and strains, some lacerations, and people just generally feeling unwell.
‘‘General practices close on public holidays, so people often don’t have anywhere else to go, and we also have a few visitors to town. We treated 183 visitors during that time,’’ Tester said.
‘‘The wait time depended on the day, really, sometimes people would be waiting an hour and a half or so, but most of the time staff would triage them really quickly.
‘‘I would like to thank the public for their patience, they have been really good. And the staff have done extremely well under pressure, I would like to acknowledge their hard work too.’’
Staff included medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, receptionists and administrators, but a healthcare assistant role was still being advertised when the clinic opened.
Tester said the position had been filled, and the healthcare assistant would start next week.
Tester was considering extending the opening hours, between 8am and 8pm, but would need to discuss whether there was enough demand with the emergency department, she said.
PHO board chairman Alistair Sowman congratulated the board and the PHO staff in December for their hard work in a challenging year.
‘‘We’ve had a new board, complex negotiations with phase two of the community health hub, the sale of the Wairau Community Clinic, and the opening of the urgent care centre.
‘‘And that’s alongside all the day-to-day work the staff do.’’